COLLEGE STATION, Texas — College Station ISD's plans to welcome students back in the safest way possible are subject to change.
On Wednesday, school officials discussed the changes they have in mind.
District officials read out emails from several concerned parents about what the fall semester will look like.
One letter read, in part, “If we are allowed 3 weeks of virtual instruction to start the school year, why not take it? This gives the district more time to evaluate our community cases and act responsibly to better meet the needs of students and staff.”
Wednesday's meeting was a workshop, with a lot of notable topics being addressed.
As of now, the district won’t have any field trips and cafeteria protocol is being worked on with touchless payment options and prepackaged food in mind.
Martindale said the district is doing things like, “providing PPE for our child nutrition employees, screening of their temperature, hand sanitizer for student use, [and] distancing floor markers for cafeteria tables in between lunches.”
As far as how many students can be in the classroom or be on the bus, that depends how many parents want their kids on campus.
“We need to know how many kiddos anticipate returning to school and how many choose the virtual option because we have to staff, we have to rebuild the master schedules to meet those needs.”
But after kids do get back on campus, what happens if a teacher or student tests positive for COVID-19?
“Everyone actually in that school will be notified that there was a case. Then those would be notified that would be considered a close contact. Possibly, be everyone in the classroom,” he said, “they would go into quarantine, including the teacher instructor as well, then we’d flip that classroom into an at-home learning scenario through the quarantine time.”
With everything discussed in the three and a half hour workshop, not too much is set in stone just yet.
Martindale said, “till further notice, everything is pending, and I can't say that enough because circumstances just constantly change.”
CSISD said they plan on posting the recording of the full meeting in the coming days.